Lawmakers are discussing the possibility of tolling some Missouri roads. The House Transportation Committee has held a meeting in which Representative Lanie Black of Charleston presented his bill that would allow for limited tolling, pointing to the need for major repairs on Interstate 70. Black says tolls could fund the building of a new I-70. But Mike Right, a spokesman for Triple A Missouri, says his members are against tolling. He says it is a simplistic solution to a complex problem of a shortage of money to fix the state’s roads and bridges. Others representing the trucking industry and convenience store operators also complain the proposal would hurt their businesses while doing little to help the state’s transportation funding crisis. The measure has a companion piece that would actually let the public vote to change the constitution to allow tolling of any roads in Missouri.
